


Loving Him Was Red

by WuvWinchesterHugs



Category: Days of Our Lives
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:02:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22411459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WuvWinchesterHugs/pseuds/WuvWinchesterHugs
Summary: Basically a different way Will and Sonny's story could've happened.Based off of Hiroki Kamijou/Nowaki Kusama from Junjou Romantica
Relationships: Will Horton/Sonny Kiriakis
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

A bottle rocket launches into the sky, as Will sits on a bench by himself, thinking.

It was my idea. He reminds himself. I even offered to do it myself.

_ Will takes a piece of silk cloth and ties it over Paul's eyes, "Wear this blindfold. I'll even let you pretend I'm Jackson.", then kisses him. _

Will almost wants to cry himself as he remembers Paul's cold hands touching him.

_ "I love you, Paul." Will tells him. "So, so much." _

_ But all that does is cause tears to slip out from Paul's eyes under the blindfold, "I'm... sorry.", as he leans back, and all Will's left with is the feeling of Paul's hands on his face. _

Needless to say, Will's affections were not reciprocated. He just thought that if he could just get Paul to let him just touch him, he could find a way to show Paul how he felt.

It still hurts just to think about it, as Will clenches his fist, trying unsuccessfully to stop the tears from falling.

But wouldn't you know it, that's right when the bottle rocket chooses to land right in front of his bench, succeeding in startling the crap out of him.

Someone walks up to pick it up, only for the guy to stop and look at him, taking note of his red rimmed eyes, which prompts Will to wipe his eyes in embarrassment.

Then, out of nowhere, the guy grabs his arm, saying in greeting, "Nice to meet you. I'm Jackson Kiriakis.", then proceeds to pull him by his arm and dragging him away.

Will, completely confused, tries to pull his arm free, protesting, "What the hell? Let go! Who the hell do you think you are?"

But the guy, it Jackson as he introduced himself, doesn't let go, instead keeps dragging him until they reach a picnic blanket with three more guys.

One of them calls out upon seeing him return, "Hey. Did you find the rocket?"

Another turns to look as well, and upon seeing Will, asks, "Oh, hello. New friend, I take it? Hello!"

Only then does Jackson release his arm, which prompts the third guy to hand him a can of soda. "Here, to mark our new friendship."

Then they all raise their own drinks and say, "Cheers?"

Will's still confused by everything, so he stammers, "Uh, n-no, I…", but is thwarted by a hand squeezing the back of his neck, and when he looks, there's Jackson again, touching him out of nowhere.

"Relax." Jackson tells him, but Will's too distracted by the touch itself to reply.

Then someone from the picnic blanket calls out, "Hey Jackson, come over here! Let's do another launch, but better!"

Jackson immediately moves to the blanket, "Coming!", grabs the rocket and moves a fair distance away for the launch.

As Will watches, he can't help but think, _ The way his hand felt on my neck…  _ and suddenly, his mind conjures up an image of Paul's hands on his face, before he snaps out of it.

_ Are you insane? There's no way in hell that's true. _

Finally, Will decides to sit with the others, as they strike up a conversation.

"So your name's Will Horton, huh? My friend here." One of them gestures to the guy next to him. "Wanted to be an astronaut, so Jackson decided it was the perfect day to launch a bottle rocket."

Another chimes in, "We all kind of know each other through Jackson, as you can probably tell."

Then he pulls something out, "Here's my business card. Do whatever you want with it."

Then the others follow suit, and though Will takes them to be polite, he thinks,  _ Betcha they're nothing but a bunch of college know-it-alls that think they're such hot shit… _

But he's quickly proven wrong when he looks at the cards, and sees their names and occupations.

_ Chad DiMera _

_ CEO of DiMera Enterprises _

_ Brady Black _

_ CEO of Titan Industries _

_ JJ Deveraux _

_ Emergency Medical Technician _

_ Jackson Kiriakis, who the hell are you? _ Will thinks, mind reeling.

One of them, who will now knows is Chad, explains, "Jackson's background is a little complicated, as you can see."

As Will watches Jackson pump the rocket for rre launch, he goes on to explain, "His parents died in a car accident on the way home from the hospital the day he was born, and someone fished him from the wreckage and just dropped him in front of a fire station."

The rocket launches into the air, as Jackson watches it fly.

"He worked his ass off pretty much the moment he started high school. He wasn't paid much for a part time worker, but he still donates to the fire station every month without fail. Says he might want to be a firefighter someday."

Brady pipes up, "He's a good guy. Deserves to be happy."

JJ nods, "He definitely does."

At this, Will looks at Jackson again.  _ Happiness? _

But then Jackson looks at him again, so he quickly turns away again.

_ I want to be happy too. _

But then, he decides he's overstayed his welcome long enough, and gets up to leave.

It's only when he's about a block away that he realizes someone's following him, so he turns to look, annoyed, "Do you need something?"

At this, Jackson stops, explaining sheepishly, "Just wanted to make sure you were okay. You seemed pretty upset earlier."

Will gets defensive, mostly out of embarrassment of being caught, "I don't see how that's any of your business!", and turns to go.

But then Jackson keeps following him, "I heard you're a student at Salem U. Would you be willing to be my tutor?"

Will doesn't bother stopping, only asking, "Give me one reason why I should."

Jackson explains, managing to keep up with Will despite Will's best efforts to shake him, "I want to run my own business, but I only have a high school diploma."

Will snaps, "I have my own final exams to worry about! I'm busy!"

Jackson assures him, "Whatever time works for you is okay with me."

Will says firmly, "My answer is no. Go bark up someone else's tree."

Instead of answering, Jackson actually reaches out and grabs Will's hand, forcing Will to stop.

"Please. I want you to be my tutor."

Will has no idea what's going on, "Wha…"

But he quickly shakes his head, and walks away. Only problem is, Jackson has a tight grip, so when Will starts moving, all he does is drag Sonny along with him, as they both try to get the other to comply.

"Let go already!"

"Please!"

"You're really annoying, you know that?"

"Tough. I want to study!"

Finally, when Will finally reaches his apartment, he succeeds in wrenching his awm out of Sonny's grip, and tells him off as he unlocks the door,

"Enough! Now you're really starting to piss me off."

But then once he gets the door unlocked, Sonny tells him, "Do it, then."

Will doesn't feel like puzzling out what he means, so he quickly gets inside and slams the door.

"Jesus, what the hell is his problem?" He wonders out loud.

Behind him, he hears the faint click of a lock. In a second, Will's panicking.

"Shit. My key!"

But when he goes to look, the key's missing.

This is just the cherry on top of a shitty life. First Paul breaks his heart, now some jackass who doesn't make sense half the time ups and steals his key.

"That's it, I'm going to bed." Will says to no one. "Today, the best thing I can do is just go to sleep."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to assure everyone who's just started reading this: this fic has not been abandoned, I'm just putting it on hold to focus on The Balance, my other fic. Hope to see you there!


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Will only wakes up because he feels a hand touching him, and because he’s still half asleep, he mumbles, “Warm...what’s up with your hand?”

Will slowly opens his eyes, and upon seeing someone staring back at him, he mumbles, “You’re not usually…”

But then it hits him all at once who’s actually standing there, and immediately, he sits up to snap,

“What the hell’s wrong with you? What the hell are you doing here?”

Jackson says calmly, like it’s completely normal, “Just finished my paper route, and thought I’d stop by.”

Will gets up in his face yelling, “Get the hell out, give me back my key, and don’t come back!”

Jackson only says, “I made food.”, and gestures behind him. “Help yourself.”

Somewhere, Will recognizes he is actually hungry, so he decides to take the guy up on it.

Now that he has some food in him, Will’s able to ask calmly, “Why would you go to all this trouble just so I’ll tutor you?”

Jackson looks surprised at that, “What, you don’t know already?”

Will shakes his head, “No, I don’t.”

Jackson’s shaking his own head, “Wonder why…”

Which only serves to piss Will off all over again. “That’s why I’m asking, you dumbass!”

As Jackson gets up to wash the dishes, Will watches, thinking,  _ Despite that, I just can’t kick the guy out. The way he touched me feels so familiar...I need to forget about it already. No amount of pining is ever going to make him reciprocate. All that I have now..is the feel of his hands. _

Suddenly, Jackson catches his eye, startling Will, which makes him knock right into a bookshelf, knocking a stack of books off the top, and falling right on top of him.

Will ducks at the last second, to protect his head, and within seconds, Jackson is there, holding his arms from behind.

“Are you okay?” Jackson asks, and only then does Will realize how close to him Jackson really is. Oblivious, Jackson smiles, and says, “Now you owe me.”

Pissed, Will pushes himself away, snapping, “Don’t let that go to your head, you cheeky bastard.”

When Jackson just smiles, that just makes Will flustered. “Damnit. Fine, I’ll be your tutor.” He points a finger. “But we’re doing this on my schedule, not yours. And I run a tight ship around here. Watch yourself.”

Excited, Jackson’s smile gets bigger, saying, “Aye aye, captain.”

This succeeds in throwing Will off, and as he watches Jackson pick up the books, he thinks,

_ His actions and expressions are way too brutally honest.  _

Will goes to grab a book himself, when he feels a hand on his head. Confused, Will turns, and Jackson starts stroking his hair. “You’re so adorable, Will.”

At that, Will pushes him away, throwing books, “Don’t you start looking down at me. How tall are you anyway? Jesus, you piss me off!”

Several days later, Will comes home to his apartment, only to find a surprise waiting for him.

_ Oh, he’s still here. _ _   
_ Jackson is leaning against a stack of books, dozing.

As Will takes off his jacket, he admits to himself,  _ Working as many part time jobs as he does has to be tough, but he still gets all his studying done. This guy… _

Will looks at his hands again, wondering,  _ Is there even a resemblance? Not even close. The only thing they have in common is… _

But then, Jackson wakes up, rubbing his eyes as he says, “Oh, welcome back.”

Will catches himself, “Right. I’ll grade your papers, and you can go wash your face.”

As he’s grading the paper, he starts to notice something, and once he finishes, it’s undeniable.

_ He got a perfect score! _

He looks to the bathroom, where Jackson is washing his face.

_ God, he pisses me off.  _

“How’s your thesis coming along?” Jackson asks.

Will replies, thinking nothing of it, “It’s coming. Although I might have to start from scratch.”

Jackson asks, “Why’s that?”

Will explains, “I think I’m gonna stick around the university.”

That makes absolutely no sense to Jackson, “You’d actually hold yourself back a year?”,

That prompts Will to throw a book at Jackson’s face. “You dumbass! I may not look like much, but I’m a top Economics student. I just meant I’m starting at graduate school!”

Jackson, however, just smiles. “Wow, that’s incredible! You’re really something, Will.”

Will tries to downplay it, “No, not really...it’s not exactly worth making a huge deal about. I’ll tell you right now, I wasn’t stroking my own ego or bragging or anything like that.

Jackson just reclaims his seat at the table. “Why not?”

That definitely surprises Will, so Jackson continues, “You are incredible.”

Will thinks bitterly,  _ Being with Jackson Kiriakis keeps throwing me off. _

But then, he notices a memoir on the table, “That book…”

“Oh, sorry…I was just reading it.” Jackson says, and if Will was really listening, he’d have heard a note of sadness in his voice.

“Oh, no, I don’t mind…”

“You like the guy it’s about, don’t you?”

Will gulps, at being called out. “How did you…do you know him too?”

Will only means it as mild curiosity, but at the look on Jackson’s face, he asks gently, “Jackson?”

Jackson says quietly, “Yeah, I know him. He’s an old...friend of mine.”  _ The man I love,  _ Jackson thinks but doesn’t say.

But quickly amends,  _ No...the man I used to love… _

Will doesn’t know what to say to that, other than, “I guess that makes sense. I see. You’re him, aren’t you?”

Will thinks to himself,  _ When I knew Paul would never love me like I wanted him to, I took advantage of him. It was in that exact moment I realized how remorseful he really was. He slept with someone he’s not even in love with as a knockoff, and felt like he was betraying Jackson. But even then, he couldn’t even keep his affections quiet. And that only hurt him even more. He adores him, and now he can’t even touch him. He wouldn’t let himself come out, not even for him. So Jackson left him. I know exactly how he feels, and that hurts me. _


End file.
